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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said today that it has arrested U.S. citizen Merrill E. Newman
for “hostile acts” against the state and accused him of being “a criminal” who was involved in the
killing of civilians during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Newman “masterminded espionage and subversive activities against the DPRK and in this course he
was involved in killings of service personnel of the Korean People’s Army and innocent civilians,”
the North’s official KCNA news agency said.

DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. North
Korea is technically still at war with the South and the United States — a truce, not a peace
treaty, was signed to end the Korean conflict.

In a separate dispatch, KCNA carried what it said was a statement of apology by Newman, made
after being detained.

Newman, who had been visiting North Korea as a tourist, has been held in Pyongyang since
officials took him off an Air Koryo plane that was scheduled to leave the country on Oct. 26.

Newman is a retiree from Palo Alto, Calif., and the U.S. State Department has refused to provide
any details of the detention.